The Big Dream of a Little Leader
“My vision is to see 50 percent of the children in East Sumba who still have no access to school would be able to complete primary school at zero cost!” said Yudianto Njepa Kaka (14) which was applauded by 47 children representing 47 villages in East Sumba, a district on barren Sumba Island in East Nusa Tenggara province.
That Friday afternoon on Friday (Nov 29, 2013), the heat from the scorching sun at the Waingapu City, capital of East Sumba, was almost unbearable. But, the heat gave additional spirit to all the children participating in that special meeting. The event -- attended by the children representatives from villages and districts in East Sumba -- has a goal to elect the leaders of the Children Forum of East Sumba that is about to be established. The meeting was also attended by the representatives of the women empowerement and birth control association of East Sumba, Wahana Visi Indonesia East Sumba Office and Child Fund East Sumba Office, who were jointly facilitating the gathering.
Two candidates were competing to secure the top position of the Children Forum. Yudianto and Desi Tamu Ina (17) were sharing their views on how and what they would do if they are elected to lead the Forum. Yudianto, which is also a sponsored child of Wahana Visi, has a dream that the primary education in East Sumba could be further improved and intensified both in quality and in coverage so that all the children could complete their schooling well and free of charge. There are still a lot of children who could not access primary school education due to various reasons, among other dire poverty. While Desi has a concern to reduce the number of children that fall into the pre-marital sex and the usage of drugs, which is also getting worse in East Sumba.
Question and answer session was held after the candidates eloquently share their vision and mission. Yudianto looks more ready with his vision and mission. He could respond very well to all the questions pointed at him. Loud applause followed every explanation that Yudi answered.
Life may not be always easy for Yudianto. Yudianto was born with the parents that have to struggle hard each day to provide foods on the table. Yudianto’s father is a motorcycle taxi driver which spends a lot of his time outside his home. Yudianto’s mother is selling cake to get extra income for her family. Yudianto has to be content with the simple dishes provided at home. At times, when the parents were fortunate, the family may enjoy fish at home. An the other time, they have to be satisfied with only veggies and salt with remaining dishes from the day before. Yudianto’s height is 140cm, below the average of his peers. However with his physical constraint, Yudi, who is currently a student of the 9th grade at the Public Junior High School 2 in Waingapu, is not discouraged at all.
“I wanted to become a doctor. By being a doctor I will be able to help heal many unfortunate and sick children,” he said when asked by the children representative. Another child representative asked him about his reason to focus on education. Yudi noted that “education is the key for a nation to success. A good education will bring Indonesia to prosperity, away from the poverty.”
Yudi is living his words with his achievements in school. Although he is busy with all his community activities in the Kambajawa village, which is supported by Wahana Visi East Sumba, he successfully achieves good grades in school. He always ranks among the three best students since he was in the 7th grade.
All the ballots have been collected. The final result was 45 votes for Yudianto and 2 for Desi. “Thank you all dear friends for trusting me to lead this Children Forum. Let’s work together for the education of children in East Sumba,” said Yudianto after the voting result was announced.
No need to be a big guy to have a big dream. The small ripples of Yudi’s dream would surely become a big wave some day.
* Writter: Betriks Mbete, Monitoring Evaluation Officer Wahana Visi Indonesia Operational Office in East Sumba | Editor: Hendro Suwito, World Vision Indonesia | Translator: Steve Wirawan